A chain is no stronger than its weakest link, and life is after all a chain.William James

A man has as many social selves as there are individuals who recognize him.William James

William James Quotes

Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.William James

An idea, to be suggestive, must come to the individual with the force of revelation.William James

Belief creates the actual fact.William James

Common sense and a sense of humor are the same thing, moving at different speeds. A sense of humor is just common sense, dancing.William James

Do something everyday for no other reason than you would rather not do it, so that when the hour of dire need draws nigh, it may find you not unnerved and untrained to stand the test.William James

Everybody should do at least two things each day that he hates to do, just for practice.William James

Genius... means little more than the faculty of perceiving in an unhabitual way.William James

Human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind.William James

I will act as if what I do makes a difference.William James

If merely 'feeling good' could decide, drunkenness would be the supremely valid human experience.William James

If you care enough for a result, you will most certainly attain it.William James

In business for yourself, not by yourself.William James

Is life worth living? It all depends on the liver.William James

It is our attitude at the beginning of a difficult task which, more than anything else, will affect its successful outcome.William James

Knowledge about life is one thing; effective occupation of a place in life, with its dynamic currents passing through your being, is another.William James

Man can alter his life by altering his thinking.William James

Many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices.William James

No matter how full a reservoir of maxims one may possess, and no matter how good one's sentiments may be, if one has not taken advantage of every concrete opportunity to act, one's character may remain entirely unaffected for the better.William James

Our esteem for facts has not neutralized in us all religiousness. It is itself almost religious. Our scientific temper is devout.William James

Our faith is faith in someone else's faith, and in the greatest matters this is most the case.William James

Pessimism leads to weakness, optimism to power.William James

Success or failure depends more upon attitude than upon capacity successful men act as though they have accomplished or are enjoying something. Soon it becomes a reality. Act, look, feel successful, conduct yourself accordingly, and you will be amazed at the positive results.William James

The aim of a college education is to teach you to know a good man when you see one.William James

The best argument I know for an immortal life is the existence of a man who deserves one.William James

The essence of genius is to know what to overlook.William James

The great use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast it.William James

The greatest use of a life is to spend it on something that will outlast it.William James

The hell to be endured hereafter, of which theology tells, is no worse than the hell we make for ourselves in this world by habitually fashioned our characters in the wrong way.William James

The ideas gained by men before they are twenty-five are practically the only ideas they shall have in their lives.William James

The world we see that seems so insane is the result of a belief system that is not working. To perceive the world differently, we must be willing to change our belief system, let the past slip away, expand our sense of now, and dissolve the fear in our minds.William James

There is but one cause of human failure. And that is man's lack of faith in his true Self.William James

There is only one thing a philosopher can be relied upon to do, and that is to contradict other philosophers.William James

This life is worth living, we can say, since it is what we make it.William James

Time itself comes in drops.William James

To be radical, an empiricism must neither admit into its constructions any element that is not directly experienced, nor exclude from them any element that is directly experienced.William James

To change ones life: Start immediately. Do it flamboyantly.William James

To study the abnormal is the best way of understanding the normal.William James

We are doomed to cling to a life even while we find it unendurable.William James

We have to live today by what truth we can get today and be ready tomorrow to call it falsehood.William James

When you have to make a choice and don't make it, that is in itself a choice.William James

Where quality is the thing sought after, the thing of supreme quality is cheap, whatever the price one has to pay for it.William James